Though online learning has made clubs and activities at Littleton difficult, students have persevered and even started pioneering new ones. Juniors Eliana Joy Volin, Victoria Majeske, Georgia Reed, Ethan Pfister, and Grace Amine have established Girl Up, a chapter of a larger organization for students interested in global gender politics.
Girl Up was founded in 2010 as a UN initiative to help support other UN agencies that focus specifically on the wellbeing of adolescent girls. The organization seeks to achieve this goal by creating accessible curriculums on topics such as gender-based violence and leading seminars relating to issues such as gender inequalities in the sports world. They also encourage and direct fundraising, and train girls across the globe to advocate for themselves and stand up to disparities at the government level.
At Littleton, the group aims to raise awareness for inequalities affecting women and other marginalized gender minorities around the globe. Vice President Victoria Majeske said, “We were talking to some boys that we go to school with and even they were unaware of [the impact of] words like slut and whore, and what those can mean to girls, as well as sex trafficking and those sorts of terms. So, we really wanted to make Littleton High School more aware.”
The club began to take shape when Junior Eliana Joy learned of the organization from a friend and became inspired to create a chapter here at Littleton. “I have long been frustrated by the inequalities girls and women face, and am appalled that 132 million girls around the world are not in school. I wanted to do something to help change this and heard about a friend who had started a Girl Up club at her school. Because Girl Up was created by the United Nations, it seemed like an effective way to make change.” Volin, who is the president of the club, aspires to create a tangible difference in the world with the cooperation of other students.
The format and specifics of what each meeting will look like are still blurry due to the ever-changing circumstances of these days, however, the Executive Board has a solid ground from which they plan to work from. “Well, obviously we’re going to be doing [the meetings] over Google Meet which is not ideal, but we have to go with the current times. They’re going to be on Thursday mornings once per month (as of right now) and then we’ll have additional meetings whenever we have an activity.” said Majeske. Majeske then explained that a part of being involved with the larger Girl Up organization is doing club activities regularly and reporting back to the organization. Those activities range from club movie nights and book clubs to school-wide drives for menstruation products for charity.
The change being created would hopefully have a global reach, and make a difference in the lives of people from countries who dominate, and oppress, limiting the opportunities of so many. “In Guatemala, the United Nations has identified that many girls don’t go to school because it is too far away (sometimes 10 miles away from their home), and they might be assaulted if they walk. A great way to fix this is to provide the girls with bicycles, but the UN does not have enough funds to give one to every girl. That’s where Girl Up steps in. With the funds that we raise, the UN can buy these bicycles, so that girls can stay in school, instead of getting married at a young age,” said Volin.
Being involved with activism groups like Girl Up allows for Littleton students to educate themselves on global issues, and then apply their knowledge to those causes, a huge opportunity for students who might not know how to advocate for causes they care about.
Both Majeske and Volin emphasized that the club is open to all Littleton students, regardless of gender identity. So long as each club member has the desire to make a difference, they are welcome! Eighth grade students at Littleton are also gladly received.
To join the club, join their Google Classroom Class, which can be accessed with the code z5575ex. The first meeting will be Thursday, January 21st at 8 am. The link to join that meeting will be posted on the Google Classroom. In the meantime, follow them on Instagram at @girluplittleton for updates and to view introductions to each of the Executive Board members.